Boyd pitches another gem, shuts out Utah 1-0

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Boyd’s home field has certainly been friendly for the left-handed starter over the years and Friday night was no different as he two-hit Utah in a 1-0 Oregon State win to open the club’s three-game series with the Utes.

“Matt has pitched well, to say the least, and he has taken advantage of the support he receives at home,” Oregon State head coach Pat Casey said. “Tonight was no different. He got ahead of batters and that served him well.”

Boyd struck out eight Friday against the Utes and became just the second Oregon State (26-6 overall, 8-2 Pac-12 Conference) pitcher in the last 12 years to record multiple shutouts in one season, matching Sam Gaviglio’s two in 2011.

The Utes (14-15, 4-9) managed just four baserunners against Boyd and the lefty threw to just two batters over the minimum as two innings were ended by Jake Rodriguez’s arm on stolen base attempts.

Boyd is 3-0 with a 0.91 earned run average at Goss Stadium this season. In 40 career appearances at home – and five starts – he is 8-1 with a 1.07 ERA.

Naturally, Boyd picked up the win to improve to 7-1 this season.

Utah’s Mitch Watrous also had an outstanding start, going seven innings, allowing four hits and one run. He took the loss to fall to 2-2 this season.

The game’s lone run came in the first. Tyler Smith, in the starting lineup for the first time since March 17, singled on a blooper down the right field line and moved to third on a single by Michael Conforto. Dylan Davis picked up his 23rd RBI of the season when he grounded out to second, allowing Smith to score.